JULIUS CAESAR-

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
■ Character Analysis
◆ Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar is ambitious and shows tendencies toward tyranny. He is a strong military
and civic leader whose reforms have benefited Rome, but many senators fear he will
keep the Romans enslaved to his whims. His inflexibility, even in the face of death,
causes conflict with those who want to protect him.

◆ Brutus
Brutus is the play's tragic hero. His moral conflicts provide the main ethical dilemma of
the play. He is manipulated by Cassius into agreeing to take part in the plot to
assassinate his friend Caesar. Brutus is the last person to participate in the attack, and
his wound is the one that finishes the act. Caesar seems hurt more by Brutus's betrayal
than by the wound itself. The play's other characters, even Brutus's enemies, respect his
loyalty and wisdom.

◆ Cassius
Cassius is devious and cunning. His morality is primarily practical, and he makes tough
moral decisions based on whatever will lead to the best outcome for himself—killing a
leader or protecting greedy officials. He's also choleric, or easily angered. Honor and
loyalty have meaning to Cassius, though, which he shows by releasing his slave
Pindarus on the battlefield.

◆ Antony
Antony is first shown to be a devoted follower of Caesar who has little power himself. As
the play progresses to its climax, the audience realizes that Antony has been hiding his
true skills as a speaker, tactician, and soldier. His bid for power is successful because
he's willing to undertake daring political moves. He is emotional and passionate.

◆ Octavius
Octavius is Julius Caesar's great-nephew and is a skilled soldier.
Following the assassination he seeks vengeance for Caesar's death. Octavius doesn't
have Antony's way with words or gift for long-term planning, but he has Caesar's
political acumen and respect for ritual. With Antony and Lepidus, he forms the new
triumvirate that leads Rome.
■ Themes
Shakespeare's Julius Caesar explores the characteristics of good leadership. Power, the
ability to speak well, wisdom in lawmaking, strategy on the battlefield, bravery—these
characteristics are all required. Characters in Julius Caesar show all of these traits. Yet
none of them are perfect leaders; they're all flawed. The audience is left to decide for
themselves who would have been the ideal leader for Rome.
◆ Tyranny and Power
Shakespeare explores the theme of tyranny throughout the play and through the central
question of the work: Is Caesar a tyrant, and is his murder justified? Although the
audience is presented with no direct evidence of Caesar's tyranny, Cassius uses
figurative language to convince first Casca and then Brutus that Caesar is indeed a
tyrant who must be executed for his own good and for that of Rome. Cassius likens
Caesar to a wolf that views the Romans as sheep. He states that were Caesar to become
king and thus tyrant, Cassius would consider himself a slave, and he would rather take
his own life than live enslaved.
The pursuit of power—fueled by ambition—is closely related to the theme of tyranny.
Caesar's much-discussed ambition earns him the leadership spot. As Antony points out
in his funeral speech, Caesar's rule kept Rome stable economically. Senators who envy
Caesar or disagree with his methods all show some form of ambition themselves.
Although he accuses Caesar of ambition, Cassius pursues power himself. He sends false
evidence regarding Caesar to trick Brutus into believing ill of his friend. Using this
falsehood and peer pressure, he persuades Brutus to accept the de facto role of
conspiracy leader in Caesar's assassination. Ambition leads Caesar, and later Antony, to
disregard the needs of others. Once his great-uncle is dead, Octavius begins his climb
toward power, defying Antony regarding battle strategies at Philippi.
◆ Communication and Persuasion
Communication in Julius Caesar is often a life-or-death affair. Shakespeare's characters
communicate, or attempt to communicate, in several different ways: through private
conversation, public speeches, and written messages. Even character interactions
viewed from afar are interpreted as messages. In Act 5, for example, Pindarus
mistakenly reports that Titinius has been killed, and this miscommunication results in
Cassius's death.
Earlier, in Act 2, Scene 1, Cassius uses rhetoric in conversation and in his forged letters
to persuade Brutus to join the conspirators. Throughout the play Shakespeare
demonstrates the power of public speech and rhetoric to motivate groups of individuals
to readily act as one. Marullus describes this phenomenon in Act 1 when he berates the
Romans for celebrating Pompey's defeat.
In Act 3, Scene 2, Brutus and Antony demonstrate the ease with which public opinion
can be manipulated. During the funeral, under Antony's influence, the people grow from
an angry crowd into a pitchforks-andtorches mob willing to kill the innocent. The mob
drives Brutus and Cassius from Rome, instigating a war and paving the way for Antony
and Octavius to seize power.
◆ Free Will versus Fate
Can humans employ free will to control the dates or manners of their deaths? The play
revolves around a major death, that of Caesar, and questions whether it was inevitable
or justified. Caesar himself believes firmly in fate. The strength of this belief may be
what kills him—if he'd heeded the intervention of omens, he may not have gone to the
Capitol. Cassius, by contrast, believes he can change his destiny. And this belief starts a
chain of events that leads to his death. Cassius, Brutus, Titinius, and Portia all commit
suicide. They take death into their own hands, on their own terms—a demonstration of
free will, but perhaps in the face of a death that fate has carved out for them.
Shakespeare's characters repeatedly try to seize control of events beyond their control,
with mixed results. Flavius and Marullus try to curb Caesar's soaring self-image by
desecrating his statues. Brutus attempts to manage public perceptions at Caesar's
funeral. Cassius sets in motion the events leading to Caesar's downfall, in the name of
achieving liberty for Rome.
Despite the frequent failures of their bold actions, the main characters often endorse
free will as imperative, the only way out of a powerless, miserable life. Brutus, for
instance, grows bolder throughout the play. In the first act, he's unhappy with Caesar's
coronation but unconvinced that he can change anything. By the fourth act, he's
confidently giving commands in war.
◆ Honour
A person's honor—that is, integrity or high moral standards—is a concept that
Shakespeare uses throughout the play. Brutus thinks of himself as an honorable man,
one who serves the general good of the people. Cassius uses honor as a tool to
manipulate Brutus into joining the assassination conspiracy. He flatters Brutus's sense of
honor, saying he wishes Brutus could see himself in the same praiseworthy light as
others see him. Once Cassius convinces Brutus that Caesar has become dishonorable,
Brutus agrees to take part in the assassination. In his funeral speech, Antony uses honor
as a means to discredit Brutus and the other conspirators and set the mob against them.
◆ Force and Brutality
Shakespeare illustrates that Roman culture, especially for men, dictated that physical
force was proof of worth just as much as intellectual acumen or political savvy.
Arguments were solved through battle. Characters willing to show force end up on top,
as in the case of Antony's and Octavius's killing 100 senators (or 70, depending on
which report is accurate). Characters reluctant to show force get taken advantage of, as
when Brutus resists killing Antony.
Shakespeare doesn't present it that simply, of course, and allows each major character
to define in his own way what it means to be a leader. They each struggle to prove their
worth: Caesar by overturning his wife's argument, for instance, and Brutus by holding
back his emotions.
■ Plot Summary
In 44 BCE the general Julius Caesar returns to Rome victorious after defeating his rival
Pompey. Roman citizens cheer for him as he parades through the streets. But he's not
welcomed by everyone. Two tribunes, Flavius and Marullus, fear Caesar has become
too idolized; they strip Caesar's statues of their ceremonial adornments. As Caesar
prepares to greet the public at the Festival of Lupercal, a soothsayer approaches.
"Beware the Ides of March [March 15]," he warns. Caesar ignores him.
Caesar's friends Cassius and Brutus discuss the leader's quest for power.
Cassius is concerned that Caesar will become a dictator. He fears that the Roman
republic would thus be destroyed, taking the freedom of its citizens with it. Brutus
shares Cassius's concerns but remains loyal to Caesar.
Cassius concocts an assassination plot to kill Caesar. He enlists Casca, Decius,
Trebonius, Ligarius, Metellus Cimber, and eventually Brutus as conspirators. They
contemplate killing Antony, a close associate of Caesar, but decide against it.
Meanwhile, Caesar's wife, Calphurnia, has an ominous dream that she believes predicts
Caesar's death. Caesar dismisses her misgivings and goes to the Senate anyway on the
Ides of March.
On the Senate floor, Caesar refuses Metellus Cimber's petition to repatriate a banished
brother. On cue the conspirators rise up and attack Caesar. When Brutus strikes,
Caesar—shocked at his friend's betrayal— says, "Et tu, Brutè?" ("You too, Brutus?")
Antony discovers the conspirators with Caesar's body. Antony grieves but convinces the
conspirators he will take their side in public.
At Caesar's funeral Brutus speaks first. He tells the crowd he killed Caesar out of love
for Rome and fear of Caesar's dangerous ambition. The crowd believes Brutus and
agrees with him. Antony speaks next. He addresses the crowd as "Friends, Romans,
countrymen," gaining their favor, and says that Caesar was a good ruler who died a
cruel death. He gives multiple examples of Caesar's lack of dictatorial ambition, unveils
Caesar's body, and reads the crowd Caesar's will, which bequeaths money to every
citizen. Antony's speech and actions rile the crowd against the conspirators—just as
Antony planned. Cassius and Brutus are forced out of the city and build armies to fight
Antony's forces.
Octavius Caesar arrives in Rome. Octavius is Julius Caesar's greatnephew and adopted
son. He has also been named as his great-uncle's successor. Following the funeral he
meets with Antony and the general Lepidus. The three plan to overtake Brutus and
Cassius's forces and rule Rome themselves.
Brutus and Cassius quarrel while in camp preparing for battle. Cassius refuses to punish
a soldier who accepts bribes; Brutus fears they will all descend into corruption if they
don't act honorably, and Caesar's death will be in vain. Eventually the two reconcile.
Brutus confesses that his wife, Portia, committed suicide after Brutus's long absence.
Later that night, Brutus receives a visit from Caesar's ghost. The ghost says Brutus will
see him again the next day—at Philippi, the site of the battle with Antony, Octavius, and
Lepidus's forces.
In Philippi the battle begins. Cassius's forces quickly lose ground. Cassius sends his
servant Pindarus to see how Brutus's troops are faring elsewhere on the battlefield.
Pindarus brings back bad news—Cassius's friend and fellow soldier Titinius has been
captured. Titinius is actually celebrating a victory with his troops, but Pindarus and
Cassius are watching from too great a distance to see this. Cassius, in despair, asks
Pindarus to kill him.
Brutus continues to fight but loses to the opposition. Antony has called for Brutus's
capture, dead or alive. Brutus falls on his sword rather than return to Rome as a slave.
He claims (as did Cassius when he died) that Caesar is avenged.
Antony and Octavius, now victors, come upon the fallen Brutus. Antony praises Brutus's
nobility and decides to bury him as a war hero.

■ Symbols
Shakespeare and other Elizabethans believed in "the great chain of being," a symbiotic
relationship between their divinely appointed ruler, the people, and all of nature. Any
actions against the ruler, whether contemplated or carried out, could be foreshadowed
or followed by disturbances in nature, such as the storm in Act 5, Scene 1.

◆ Storms
When the battle begins, Cassius says, "blow wind, swell billow ... the storm is up, and all
is on the hazard [and everything is at risk]." Bad weather is a metaphor for devastation,
a time when humans must take initiative and act. The conspirators also discuss the
weather in Act 1, Scene 3, when they meet to discuss Caesar's presumed coronation
planned for the following day. Speaking of the recent storm, Casca states that the gods
must be angry: "When the most mighty gods by tokens send/Such dreadful heralds to
astonish us."
◆ Animals and Insects
A lion is used several times in the play to signify various omens: In Act 1, Scene 3,
Cassius describes Caesar as a destructive storm and as a roaring "lion in the Capitol."
Both symbols represent a dangerous ruler.
Caesar likens himself to a lion in Act 2, Scene 2: "Caesar is more dangerous than
he./We were two lions littered in one day,/And I the elder and more terrible."
In Act 5, Scene 1, the honeybee Cassius and Brutus compare to Antony stands for
duplicity—sweetness without and sting within.
The serpent Brutus speaks of in Act 2, Scene 1 symbolizes Caesar and his possible
evolution into a tyrant. Here the serpent represents not only Caesar, but also evil and
power. Readers learn that Brutus believes such potential evil should be destroyed:
"Think him as a serpent's egg/Which, hatched ... would grow mischievous/And kill him
in the shell."
The eagles Cassius speaks of in Act 5, Scene 1 represent strength and victory. The fact
that the birds desert the soldiers at Philippi is seen as a bad omen.
Cassius also speaks of ravens and crows in Act 5, Scene 1. These are scavengers that
feed on dead animals—and fallen soldiers. Several crows and ravens arrive at Philippi
and circle above Cassius's and Octavius's troops. Cassius views these birds as omens of
defeat and death.
◆ Supernatural Elements
The ghost of Caesar materializes once (Act 4, Scene 3) and is mentioned by Brutus once
again (Act 5, Scene 5). Its brief appearance, when Brutus is exhausted and everyone
else is asleep, almost seems like a figment of Brutus's imagination. A symbol of Brutus's
guilt and of revenge for Caesar's murder, the ghost also foreshadows the military
blunders that will lead to Brutus's downfall the following day.
◆ Historical Introduction to the Play

"Julius Caesar" was probably first produced at the Globe in 1599.

Julius Caesar is the first of Shakespeare's three plays dealing with the history of Rome.
The other two are "Coriolanus" and "Antony and Cleopatra". The first thing to do before
discussing the play is to give a compressed version of the historical events on which the
play is based.
For the first 250 years after its foundation, Rome was ruled by kings whose domination
became increasingly oppressive. Finally, in the reign of the Tarquins, the Romans
revolted. This revolution was led by Lucius Junius Brutus, from whom the Brutus of our
play descended - Act I, ii, 59. He replaced the monarchy by a republican form of
government. This government was composed of two consuls, the Roman Senate, who
administered civil justice, and the tribunes who represented the people. Julius Caesar
became a Consul in 59 B.C. Soon, both his ability and his ambition soon became clearly
known. He was highly successful in extending Roman power outside Italy, particularly
in his Gallic campaigns. When he returned to Italy, he entered into a struggle for power
with his great rival, Pompey. Caesar defeated Pompey's armies in Italy, again in Spain,
and finally and decisively in the battle of Pharsalia in Macedonia. This was followed by
several other foreign campaigns which resulted in Caesar making his military power
absolute by defeating Pompey's sons in Spain in 45 B.C. It was from this victory that he
returned in triumph to Rome. It is at this point that Shakespeare's play begins.
The Rome of Julius Caesar" was the Rome of mighty conquests and terrible factions. At
the moment when the action of the play begins, the Roman world had for years been
torn by a series of civil wars. The leading idea behind them was the contest between
those who wished Rome to be governed in the interests of the old Roman families
under the form of a republic and those who wished the Roman empire governed in the
interests of everybody under a strong ruler who would improve their material
prosperity. This showed clearly that Republicanism was doomed and Caesarism had to
rise. The Roman State was just waiting for their master to arrive.

Caesar was just the man of the hour, the man of Destiny. He stood at the head of the
State as despot. The Roman people were ready to accept a ruler who would provide
them with bread and amusement. At the same time, there was considerable feeling
against Caesar among the upper class, partly due to personal jealousy of Caesar and
partly due to love of liberty. The political conflict in the play is the conflict between
those who attempted to preserve republican Rome and their own freedom (Brutus,
Cassius, and the other conspirators), and those who supported Caesar (Antony and
Octavius).

◆ Source of Play:

The direct source of Shakespeare's play is the historian Plutarch's work, Lives of the
Noble Grecians and Romans Translated by Sir Thomas North, a noted Elizabethan. This
work was widely read and admired. Shakespeare could depend on his audience being
familiar with the story. The assassination of Julius Caesar was regarded by the
Elizabethans as the greatest historical event with significant lessons for all time.
Shakespeare was thus naturally drawn to a theme of universal and eternal interest.

Shakespeare has kept faithfully to the historical accounts found in Plutarch. He has kept
to the whole story of the play, the personal details concerning some of the characters
and certain turns of expression and descriptive touches found in the original. He has
used his wonderful faculty of transforming history into drama and prose into poetry.
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